Robocash Review
Table of Content
Robocash is a P2P lending platform registered in Croatia, offering investors to invest in microloans with short loan periods in exchange for up to 13% interest.
When looking at the offer from Robocash it seems to be very similar to its competitor from Latvia – PeerBerry. However, if you look a bit closer, you will see significant differences that might improve the liquidity of your investment.
By liquidity, I mean that you will be to access your money faster on Robocash due to the secondary market feature.
The unique selling point of Robocash is clearly the 30 days buyback guarantee. No other P2P platforms that I am currently invested in, offer less than 60 days buyback guarantee.
You are eligible to invest on Robocash if you are over 18 years old and reside in Europe.
Investors outside of Europe such as from the U.S. or Australia cannot join Robocash. In order to transfer money to Robocash, you need to have a European bank account.
Robocash currently offers only investment opportunities in Euro. If you have a EUR account you can just deposit money to your Robocash investor account.
If you transfer your funds in other currencies, the money will be converted to EUR.
I always use my N26 bank account to transfer funds to P2P lending platforms. Find out more about the sign up process here.
Is investing on Robocash safe?
Robocash is mainly listing unsecured payday loans backed by the 30-day buyback guarantee.
As you might know, payday loans are given out with a huge interest of more than 200% per year (in most cases). On Robocash you will earn on average 12% per year, meaning the loan company (loan originator who lists the loans on the platform) keeps the rest of the interest. Some of it helps to cover potential defaults.
Although your investment isn’t backed by any real value such as collateral or mortgage, the buyback guarantee has worked just fine so far and I haven’t had any defaulted loans since I joined back in 2018.
When reviewing P2P platforms you should always have a look at the platform’s statistics. Statistics will give you an idea about the P2P platform’s performance as well as its growth.
| Robocash Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Operating since: | 2017 |
| Investor’s earnings: | + €6 M |
| Total loan value: | + €375 M |
| Amount of investors: | +26.000 |
Robocash isn’t the largest P2P lending platform in Europe but on the other hand, it belongs to the profitable Robocash Group which made a profit of $38M last year.
Let’s have a look at the reasons why you should invest on Robocash as well as some disadvantages that you should be aware of.
Pros
- 1% sign up bonus for new investors
- 30 Day Buyback Guarantee
- Stable interest rate of 12% per year
- Automated investments with Auto Invest
Cons
- Not so many diversification options
- Slightly outdated design
- Manual investments are not supported
Robocash Diversification
Most P2P lending platforms allow you to invest manually as well as automate your investment with the Auto Invest feature. Robocash doesn’t let you pick your own individual investments.
You can set up your portfolio preferences and Robocash will invest in all loans that match your criteria. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hand-picking payday loans to invest in is not an effective way to spend your time.
Currently, Robocash offers the following diversification options:
Interest: 11% – 13%
Loan Period: 1 – 24 months
Loan Originators: 5
Buyback Guarantee: Yes
Auto Invest: Yes
For anyone who is starting out with P2P lending, this will be good enough. I believe that simplicity is certainly better than overly complicated investment systems (like it’s the case on Mintos). Robocash makes it for the investor very simple.
It is not much you can do wrong on Robocash. I invest currently only in commercial loans in Singapore which is basically a loan to Robocash which is being used to fund its operations as well as the loan book in some of the developing markets such as India, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Robocash Risk & Returns
Robocash Investment platform lists its loan originators from Spain, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and the Philippines. All of the loan originators are sub-companies of the Robocash Group which comes with some pros and cons to consider.
The benefit is that Robocash has full control over the loan book. A downside could be that your investment opportunities might be limited in terms of diversification.
Your money is secured by the buyback guarantee, meaning if the borrower is late with its payments for more than 30 days, the loan originator will repurchase your claim against the borrower for the full price (delayed interest + your investment amount). This is certainly a better deal than with Mintos, where many loan originators don’t pay out interest for delayed loans.
Other than the buyback guarantee there is no real protection of your investments. This is, however, the case with any P2P lending platforms, which don’t list property-backed loans.
The average interest of 12% per year should compensate for the risk you are taking as an investor.
As for myself, I haven’t had any loss on Robocash since I joined back in 2018. I am also not aware that any other investors ever suffered any losses.
Robocash Functionality
As you might have noticed by now, Robocash doesn’t offer a whole lot of functions. It simply sticks to the basics.
You have the Auto Invest which allows you to choose your preferences and invest with as little as no time investment. This feature is great for any investors who treat P2P lending as a passive investment.
If you decide to exit your investments before the end of the loan term, you can simply sell them on the secondary market. Practically speaking, you can easily exit a €10,000 portfolio within a week.
Robocash Support
If you have any questions, you can send them directly to support@robo.cash or use their chat function on the homepage.
Usually, I get a response within 48h.
A better approach might be to use their Live Chat function which has a much faster response time.
Robocash Review Summary
Robocash is a very simple P2P platform for investors who wants to decrease the platform risk of their P2P investments.
Short-term loans bring higher liquidity to your portfolio, however, they also increase the risk as they aren’t backed by any real value. This isn’t just the case for Robocash but any P2P platform that lists payday loans.
Robocash is a great platform for beginners but also advanced investors who are looking to earn stable yields on their investments.